Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Nature Study Part 7

Hence, what is one use of the root?

A pupil is asked to pull the plant out of the soil in the flower-pot.

What is another use that you have discovered for the root?

The plant is now uprooted from the soil, and the pupils examine the root to find how it is fitted for gathering water and food from the soil and for holding the plant in place.

Note the number of branches touching a great deal of soil and also the twisted form of the roots for grasping the soil.

The form of the leaves is studied by the pupils, and, as a test of the accuracy of their observation, they are asked to pick out the pansy leaves from the pile of leaves.

_To the teacher._--The pupils must be active partic.i.p.ants in the lesson.

They must use their eyes, hands, and even their noses in gaining first-hand impressions, and they are to be required to express in their own way the things that they discover. The beautiful flower with its face like that of an animal is an appeal to the child's imagination, and the child's interest in the _use_ of things is utilized in the study of the relations of root, stem, and flower.

This lesson may be used as the basis for busy work by means of the following correlations:

1. With art:

Represent the flower in colours.

2. With reading and literature:

The pupils are required to express the meaning and sentiment of the following stanza:

The pansy wakes in early spring To make our world more bright; All summer long its happy face Fills children with delight,

Lessons similar to those on the pansy may be based upon the following plants of the garden or field: dandelion, aster, b.u.t.tercup, nasturtium, goldenrod. The teacher in preparing the lesson should read a description of the plant from a Nature Study book and should also study the plant itself until he is familiar with all the phases of its life.

OBSERVATION EXERCISES ON THE DANDELION

The exercises given below are suggestive for out of school observation work, but must not be too long. By way of preparation for an exercise of this kind, the interest of the pupils in the dandelion must first be aroused.

FIRST EXERCISE

The teacher places the pupils at the school windows from which dandelions are visible and asks them to name any flower that they can see. A short conversation about the brightness of the flower follows.

The pupils are next instructed to:

1. Find dandelions late in the evening, and find out how they prepare to go to sleep and how they are tucked in for the night.

2. Find where the leaves of the dandelion are, and bring a leaf to school next morning, and also observe how the leaves are grouped or placed.

_To the teacher._--Dandelion flowers close up in the evening; the green leaves beneath the head wrap closely around the flowers to form a snug covering. The leaves have margins with teeth shaped like those of a lion, and from this the plant gets its name, for the name is the French _dent de lion_, which is p.r.o.nounced very much like the word dandelion.

The use of the leaf cl.u.s.ter as a system of rain-spouts for guiding the rain toward the root should be noted.

SECOND EXERCISE

1. Why is the dandelion easy to find?

2. What makes it easy to find even in long gra.s.s?

3. What insect friends visit the dandelion?

4. Find out just how these visitors act during their visits, and find whether they carry anything to or away from the flowers.

_To the teacher._--The bright yellow colour of the dandelion attracts attention. When it grows in long gra.s.s, the flower stalk grows long, so that the flower surmounts its obstructions and climbs up to the suns.h.i.+ne. The flowers are visited by ants, bees, and wasps, and these may be seen burrowing into the flowers in search of honey. If their bodies and legs be touched, the yellow pollen of the flowers will be found sticking to them.

THIRD EXERCISE

1. Look for flower heads that do not open to the sun. Do not disturb them, but watch them for a few days and find out what they become.

2. Examine the large white b.a.l.l.s of the dandelions and find out what they are.

3. Blow the down away. What does it carry with it?

_To the teacher._--In this exercise the pupils will learn that the large white b.a.l.l.s are the mature, or ripened, flowers and are composed of little brown seeds, each being a little airs.h.i.+p for wafting it away.

CORRELATION WITH LITERATURE AND READING

When the above exercises have been completed, the pupil's knowledge of the dandelion may be utilized in interpreting the following stanzas:

Oh dandelion! yellow as gold, What do you do all day?

I just wait here in the tall green gra.s.s Till the children come to play.

And what do you do when your hair is white And the children come to play?

They take me up in their dimpled hands And blow my hair away.

In addition to the dandelion, the following plants are suitable for observation exercises: morning-glory, wild balsam, sweet-pea, snap-dragon, nasturtium.

DWARF NASTURTIUM

~Observations.~--The size of the plant at the time of flowering; its leaves--size, colour, shape, length of petiole and how arranged; colours found in the flower, comparison with others of same species found in the garden; size and shape of the flower and the length of its stems. Do the flowers grow higher than the leaves? Do they look better when with the leaves or when alone? Note the perfume and taste of the flower stem, the insect visitors, and what part of the flower they tried to get at, when the first blossom was seen, and how long the blossoms continued to come out. Do they keep well in bouquets? Do they stand hot, dry weather as well as other flowers? When did the frost kill them? Compare with the climbing nasturtium. Find the seeds.

SEEDS

The autumn months are the best for seed studies, for almost all annuals are ripening their seeds at this time of year.

FIELD EXERCISE

a.s.sign to the pupils the following exercise:

Collect the seed pods from as many plants of your garden plots, or home gardens, or wild plants, as possible, and be careful to write the name of each plant on the paper in which you put the seed pod of that plant.

Notice the part of the plant from which the seed pod is formed.

CLa.s.s-ROOM LESSON BASED ON THIS COLLECTION

The pupils place the seed pods on their desks, and observations and problems are dealt with of which the following are representative: